


5 Times They Met In A Coffee Shop, and 1 Time They Didn't

by mel_is_a_melon



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/F, Fluff, I apologize for the title but the last part's vague on purpose, I told myself I wouldn't write this ship because I am a hardcore River/Doctor shipper but here I am, Obligatory 5+1 Things, like all the fluff, obligatory coffee shop au, write all the cliches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-09-30 09:32:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17221379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mel_is_a_melon/pseuds/mel_is_a_melon
Summary: Featuring an ever-oblivious Doctor, an ever-smitten Yaz, and Ryan and Graham making bets in the background. In other words, the only difference from canon is that it takes place in a coffee shop.





	1. Cinnamon Spice (And Everything Nice)

The first time they met could barely be called a meeting. More along the lines of a sighting, really - it was just too quick to be anything else.

Yaz had just walked in to start her morning shift, the exhaustion of waking up before one’s body was ready tugging at her eyelids. She’d prepped the machines, nodded at her equally sleepy coworker, Ryan, and flipped the sign on the door to proclaim, "We Are OPEN!!!" to the world. Same business as usual.

As she waited behind the counter, she took a minute to breathe in the aroma of the coffee around her, letting it fill her sinuses and jolt her brain into a semi-conscious state. She didn’t have anything to do yet, since customers never came in this early (which was part of the reason she’d taken this shift - that, and her university classes left her no other choice). And so she let her mind wander to other places and other times, to another slightly awkward family dinner last night, to the paper she really needed to be writing but spent all her free time procrastinating on, to the loneliness she could feel late at night, in the depths of her subconscious, begging for someone else to be there…

As if in answer to her longing thought, the door banged open, startling her out of her stupor (and Yaz was sure she could hear the sound of Ryan dropping something and swearing) as a young blonde woman strode in and came right up to the counter.

“What’s on the menu…wow, that’s a lot of options, I don’t really think I could choose. I mean, the cinnamon spice latte looks great, but so does the vanilla mocha. On the one hand, you have sparky sweet flavors, and on the other, rich creamy flavors…you know what, you decide for me, Miss…Yaz? Ooh, that’s a fun name, rolls right off the tongue, Yaaaaazzzzzzzzz. That is really fun to say, especially with that Z. So what do you think, cinnamon or vanilla?”

She said all of this in one breath, and with way too much peppiness for 5:30 on a Monday morning. Yaz barely took in any of it, her mind catching a few words here and there, but mostly focused on the woman’s eyes. They were like a tunnel, with hints of blue on the outside darkening into a light brown near the middle. She felt drawn to them, as if the tunnel were pulling her in, inviting her to walk it.

“The cinnamon spice latte is really sweet, and it’s got a little kick to it…like you, I guess.”

When Yaz’s brain stopped drowning in the other woman's eyes and comprehended what had just come out of her mouth, her own eyes widened with mortification, and she opened her mouth to apologize for being so forward. However, the woman had burst into a bright smile at her remark, and was already brimming with more words (seriously, how was she functional, let along happy, this early?!)

“Aw, you’re so cute! I know you’re tired and dead on your feet…well, not actually, because you wouldn’t be able to say anything, but still…that’s really nice of you to say. I’m new to town, and I haven’t really been able to meet anyone yet. Actually, just breezed in this morning! That’s me, jump into a new place - metaphorically, of course, though I guess literally a few times - and spend some time there, then hit the road…”

The woman kept talking, and Yaz set her voice to background noise as she made the coffee. Only muscle memory allowed her to make it correctly, since she was distracted by the snippets of speech that filtered though and the sight of her shining smile in the corner of her eye.

“…might stick around for awhile, seems like a nice place,” she finished as Yaz handed her the coffee cup.”

“It’s alright, I suppose,” Yaz yawned, “if you don’t mind a slow, sleepy town that doesn’t wake up until about 10.”

“I don’t,” the woman said, giving Yaz a twenty, “but I suppose what really makes this place special is the people.”

And she winked, walking out leaving Yaz behind with way too much money in her hands and a dumbfounded expression on her face.

Ryan smirked at the look. He’d seen that face before, and he knew what it meant - time to start another bet with Graham, the owner, on how long it would take for Yaz to admit she had a massive crush.


	2. Vanilla Mocha

The second time they met, Yaz was a little more prepared for the onslaught of words that came with the arrival of this mysterious woman.

Since she’d mentioned staying in town for a bit longer than usual, Yaz had prepared herself for the woman’s early arrival. She had even found herself wiping down the counters one more time - just for good measure. And yes, Ryan, she was only doing it because appearances mattered and they didn’t want to turn a customer away just because Tim, the night shift worker, had forgotten to get that coffee stain over there, did they?

Goodness, now her ramblings were starting to sound like the mystery woman’s.

And so she waited, letting her thoughts stew again until, like clockwork, the door swung open and the woman ran inside, bouncing up to the counter with that infectious grin on her face (and no matter how cute, it was still absolutely sinful to have this early in the morning).

“Hi again! It’s me, from yesterday? Not sure if you recognize me yet, I always say you have to see someone at least three times to be able to recognize them on sight. Me a few more, depending on when you know me. I recognize you, though! The cute barista from yesterday, yep!”

Yaz choked on air, and Ryan outright laughed from the back (she was going to kill him, she swore it).

“You gave me a really nice compliment, and the coffee was the best in this whole town. I checked, I went to each one and tested them.”

Holy hell, how many coffees did she have every morning? That explained a lot about her personality, at least.

“None of them had as many options either, even the Starbucks! And that one usually has all sorts of flavors, no matter where you go. So now I know this place has the best coffee and the best service, so I’m going to come here and get coffee from you every day from now on. Hope you don’t mind.”

Yaz chuckled. “Not at all, miss. That’s our job.”

As the woman paused to take a breath, Yaz took in the sight of her properly. Her blonde hair was cut in a bob, and sticking up all over the place as if she hadn’t bothered to comb it. Her clothing was a fashion designer’s nightmare, with the splash of colors everywhere they could be fit, but it suited her. She wore no makeup, but her tunnel eyes and petite, adorable features showed no need for it.

Before she got too caught up in staring at her, Yaz asked, “Who even are you?” before reminding herself to bang her head into a wall at the earliest convenience.

The woman didn’t seem fazed, and pulled a small piece of paper out of one of her many pockets. She flashed it at Yaz, who was only able to read that the woman apparently had a PhD in…something before she returned it to the pocket.

“Alright, then,” Yaz smiled at the…doctor? People who had PhDs were considered doctors, right? She’d have to ask her mum. “What’ll it be today?”

“Ooh, I’m not sure…I think that since I had the cinnamon spice yesterday, I have to have the vanilla mocha today. It’s only fair to the mocha. It must have felt sad yesterday when I didn’t pick it. Oh goodness, I hope it knows I only picked cinnamon spice over it because you called me sweet…”

Yaz, a dark blush crawling its way up her face, turned away to make the coffee and let the doctor ramble on in the background, her thoughts focussed on trying to collect herself. When she turned to face her again, she was looking at Yaz expectantly, as if waiting for her to answer a question.

Damn.

The expression the doctor was making was so hopeful that Yaz’s only option was to say, “Err…yes, I suppose,” and hope to the stars above it didn’t make this woman hate her.

Quite the opposite, actually. Her whole face brightened, and she looked down almost shyly. “See you Saturday, then.” And she pressed a note into Yaz’s hand before skipping - honest to goodness skipping - out the door.

Yaz spun around to where Ryan stood in the doorway, his eyebrows raised. “Ryan, what the hell did I just get myself into?!”

He sighed. “You have a date with her on Saturday. And more importantly, I owe Graham money.” And with that, he went into the back, and Yaz was left alone with her suddenly racing heart and a dopey grin on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very aware that the Doctor's name is supposed to be capitalized, but Yaz just thinks of her as an ordinary doctor, hence the lowercase.


	3. Cherry Caramel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The New Years party is raging downstairs, and you know what that means. Yep, time to hide myself away from society and delve into a fictional world. The length of this chapter should be a testimony to that.
> 
> Don't know how long it will take me to finish this, but if it's not done by January 2nd, expect a short break while I do that paper I've been procrastinating on.

The third time they met, Yaz was starting to slowly get used to the doctor’s way of talking.

She found herself scrubbing down the counters again, despite the lack of any visible stains (which had shocked her at first, before remembering Tim had asked for the night off) and double checking their supplies, especially those needed to make odd coffee drinks that almost no one asked for. The kind of drink she was positive would only be ordered by someone like this doctor. Her mind wandered to that bright smile, those tunnel eyes, and that open, bubbly personality...

“Are you wearing makeup?”

Ryan’s voice shattered through her daydream, and Yaz screeched as she spun around and landed flat on her ass. He cackled as she picked herself up, grumbling.

“No I’m not. What on earth makes you say that?”

He rose an eyebrow. “Your lips are a bit lighter than usual, and your eyelashes are longer. You notice this stuff when you go to school with someone for years, and work with them after.”

She groaned. Ryan knew her well, and it was both a blessing and a curse. “Fine, I woke up early and was bored waiting to go into work, happy?”

“I’m sure that’s the only reason.” He patted her on the arm sympathetically.

Yaz rolled her eyes and shoved him on the way out, ducking her head so he couldn’t see her small smile.

When the doctor steamrolled in, Yaz was ready - perched on the counter, feet crossed, and humming to herself. All she needed was a rose in her teeth to complete the look.

“Hiya! Nice to see you again, Yaz. I still love that name, never met another Yaz. And I’ve met a lot of people, so usually by now I’ve seen all the names, like Emma, and Reese, and Marshall, and Ryan-”

“Someone say my name?” Ryan came to the front. “Hello, I don’t think we’ve met.”

“Oh, I didn’t know we actually had a Ryan with us!” The doctor jumped forward and shook his hand. “Pleased to meet ya. Been awhile since I’ve met one of ya, nice to see one again. Though I bet you’re even cooler than some of the others I’ve met. You’ve got that kind of look to you.”

Ryan shook his head, clearly amused. “Well, I’m a pretty average guy to match my pretty average name, but you’re definitely one of a kind.”

Yaz aimed a pointed look at Ryan, and thankfully the doctor missed it. Her eyes had moved up to the chalkboard with their specials of the day. “That’s kind of you to say, Ryan. I love people who give out compliments to people they don’t know. They always seem like kinder people, you know, ‘cause they go out of their way to make someone they don’t know feel good.” She turned her head to Yaz. “Like you did on my first day. Hey, what’s a Cherry Caramel Coffee?”

Ryan turned to Yaz, his mouth gaping. That was one of the hardest ones to make, due to having to perfect the timing of adding the caramel so that the two odd flavors blended perfectly. Yaz always felt like a failing potions student at Hogwarts when she tried to make it, and her caramel always went in too late. The only reason she’d put it up there was because she knew it was the most impressive thing they could serve the doctor - and she really wanted her to keep coming back.

“Our special of the morning. We call it the early bird special - only the first people through the door get one. Want to try it?”

She swore she could feel Ryan shaking his head behind her as he made his way into the back (because, of course, there was no such thing), but she kept her eyes on the doctor, who lit up like a star.

“I’d love to! It sounds really good.”

Yaz nodded, ignoring the beading sweat on her brow, and turned around to begin the process. The doctor continued to talk behind her, the topic ranging from the people she’d met around town today to previous places she’d been. It was hard to stay focused on the process with such exciting stories being told.

“And the...err, police were chasing me, and I got shot at for awhile. Wasn’t fun. I really hate guns, especially when someone’s pointing one at me. It took way too long to recover from that.”

Yaz nodded absentmindedly, her hand holding the caramel as she ticked down the seconds until she needed to add in in her mind. “Yeah, I can imagine the trauma from that would take some time…”

“Well, I meant the bullet wounds, but yeah, that too…”

Yaz started, her hand jerking so she poured the entire batch of caramel into the cup about twenty seconds before she should have. “You were hit?! Are you okay?”

She shrugged, looking as though she didn’t have a care in the world despite the fact that she was casually talking about BEING SHOT and it was too effing early to think about this. “I’m fine now. Took a few weeks off in Tahiti. It’s a magical place.”

Yaz, her head spinning, turned back to the coffee she’d been making and growled. “I messed it up. I’ll have to make it again. I’m so sorry.”

She shrugged. “I don’t mind. I’ll drink it, I don’t care if it’s perfect.”

Yaz looked down at her shoes, her eyes filling with tears that she swatted away angrily. She shouldn’t be crying, she really shouldn’t, but... “I wanted it to be. For you.”

The doctor was silent for a moment. Then, Yaz heard the sound of fabric moving, and saw the doctors hands cup her own - she’d jumped the counter - and take the coffee from her hands. “May I?”

Yaz was too overwhelmed to say anything, so she just nodded and looked up.

The doctor took a sip from the cup. Her eyes closed, and she let a small smile slip onto her lips. It wasn’t radiant, like usual, but just a sliver of happiness peering through and suddenly Yaz really really wanted to kiss her.

The doctor put the cup down, and took Yaz’s hands. She looked into the other woman’s eyes, and saw the most serious look she’d ever seen on her face.

“Doesn’t matter that it’s not perfect. It’s wonderful, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Later, Yaz found a text from Ryan unopened on her phone. When she looked, she saw that Ryan had managed to sneakily take a picture of the two of them holding hands, eyes locked on one another.

She totally didn’t make it her lock screen.

**Author's Note:**

> Seriously, Jodie's eyes look like that. Look up a picture of her. It's breathtaking.
> 
> I can mostly be found at mel-is-a-melon on Tumblr. Stop by if you want!


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